We've Got Tonight
by In-A-Parallel-World
Summary: Mark needs to know and Lexie has to be the one to tell him. End of season 8. No planes involved.


**So we all know Chyler wanted to leave and have more family time. That doesn't mean she should have gone the way she did. Her leaving was always going to break our shipper hearts but that was too brutal. So sod the crash, that was too stupid. Why couldn't she leave with an option of coming back? So this is how she should have left in my opinion.**

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Lexie Grey knocked on the door tentatively. She wasn't sure she should be doing this, but after she had blurted her confession of love to him it seemed like the right thing to do. She couldn't let him find out from someone else, not after everything they had been through.

He opened the door with the same expression he had had on various occasions in the past when he couldn't quite believe she was standing in front of him.

"Hey" she said softly, almost shyly. And once again he couldn't quite find the words.

"I need to talk to you." when he didn't respond she carried on. "Don't worry, it's not about the other night, well it sort of is, but it's not that, it's just, I did something, I'm about to do something and I need to tell you. You deserve to hear it from me and so I came round because I need to tell you about this thing, because I owe it to you after what I said, so please…please stop looking at me like that and let me in because I have to tell you and you won't be happy, or maybe you will, you should be but I don't think you will be…."

"Come in" He finally told her. He tried to contain the smile creeping onto his lips. The cuteness of her rambling had him mesmerized for a moment before he remembered Julia and then his conversation in the elevator earlier with Derek.

She sighed in relief and strode into his apartment, depositing her coat and bag on the sofa before turning to face him. He couldn't help thinking back to the first time she did that and what had followed after the infamous "teach me" moment. He mentally shook himself as he closed the door before stepping further into the room.

"What's this about Little Grey?" He asked her concerned, she was looking pretty jittery.

"I…I quit" She said after a moment.

Mark furrowed his brow "I don't follow"

"I went to Owen this morning and I quit. I- I quit my job. That is to say that I put in a transfer request and I'm leaving, I'm going to Boston…tomorrow"

"WHAT?" He looked at her in horror.

"Well I only came back to Seattle because my mum died and my dad couldn't cope. But he has what's-her-name now, he doesn't need me. And I wanted to get to know my half-sister and I have. But she has Derek and Zola and there moving into the dream house, they don't need me lurking around in the attic anymore, they want to be a family. And you-" She began to tear up. "You have your own little family and you have Julia and you're happy. Don't get me wrong, I'm really happy for you because you got what you wanted and I want to see you happy, but I'm not. I haven't been for a long time and there's nothing left for me here anymore, so I need to leave."

Mark watched as tears ran down her cheeks and had to fight back his own that threatened to fall. "But you said that you…you said what you said to me and I told you that I had to think, you can't just run away." He told her defiantly.

"That's the reason I have to go" She explained. "I'm sorry that I told you I loved you, I had no right saying it. You have a girlfriend and you moved on and I should have just let it be. The reason you have to think about it is because even if you did love me back it would never work out because things keep getting in our way. You're ready for all the commitment and rings and kids and I'm not and I may never catch up to you on that and you don't deserve someone that is going to hold you back. You deserve to get everything you ever wanted, because regardless of what you think you are a good person and you have so much to give to the world."

"But Lex…" He started as he took a step towards her.

She stepped back and crossed her arms over her chest defensively. "NO!" she shouted. "We can't keep living like this Mark. _I_ can't keep living like this, everyday is torture. To see you everyday, be near you everyday and know that I can't touch you, can't feel you, can't kiss you…It's killing me. I smell your cologne and it makes my body react in ways that it shouldn't, I crave you, every part of you and knowing I can't have even a bit of that…I need to get away because I can't think of anything else. Its getting in the way of me being a doctor. I meant what I said, I'm infected by you and constant exposure doesn't help. If I leave then this will be over, I can move on" She finished as she burst into fully fledged sobbing.

As she broke down Mark ran to her and gathered her in his arms, holding her tightly. After a moment he asked "You don't really believe that do you? That we can ever move on from one another?"

He felt her shrug "I think we owe it to each other to try and a couple of thousand miles should help." She told him honestly as she looked up at him. They stood like that, looking into each other eyes, for some time before Mark slowly dipped his head and pressed his lips to hers. Lexie sighed at the contact and instinctively reached out for more. Their lips found one another again and it wasn't long before the kiss deepened. Lexie was almost lost in it until she felt his thumb brush across her breast. She quickly came back down to earth and reluctantly pulled away. "I should go…" she told him as she made a move to grab her coat.

He grabbed her wrist before she could get away from him. "Lexie please" He practically begged.

She shook her head. "Julia" She wasn't sure if it was a question or a statement.

Mark closed his eyes briefly but the decision wasn't as hard as it should have been. "If all we have is this one night then I want to memorise every inch of you, I want to feel your skin against mine and I want to make love to you as excruciatingly slow and gentle as possible. I want to fall asleep next to you and wake up with you in my arms. I want to remember this night for the rest of my life."

She wanted to say no, it was only going to cause more pain in the long run but as she opened her mouth she heard herself saying "_okay_" in a barely audible whisper.

She needed this night just as much as he did.

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Lexie had been awake for well over an hour. She couldn't help thinking about the previous night as she laid there in Mark's arms. It had been perfect. Beautiful and devastating, all their emotions had been laid bare. If she had any doubts about his love for her they had been wiped away with the tears, for they had both cried at the inevitable ending that the morning would bring.

As she felt him beginning to stir she quickly closed her eyes, feigning sleep, not wanting him to know she had been awake all this time. After a few minutes of silent stillness she knew that he had been studying her face and she couldn't help the little curl of her lips at the thought.

"How long have you been awake?" He murmured softly, not wanting to disturb the quiet.

She opened her eyes and looked up at him staring down at her with questioning eyes. "An hour or so" she replied honestly.

"And you stayed?" He asked in awe.

"I didn't want you to wake up alone" she stated simply "and you looked so peaceful, I knew that as soon as you woke, you wouldn't have that anymore, I couldn't wake you."

She could see the pain re-enter his eyes as he remembered why she was there in the first place. "You could stay" Mark began as he played it all out in his head. "We could work this out, we could be happy Lex, you and I, we could do this, be together. Just stay please." He begged.

She closed her eyes and buried her head in his chest. After a moment she spoke. "I can't Mark, I've already set things in motion, I can't go back, I need to move forward. We're no good for each other, we make each other miserable...I'm sorry." she added as she looked up at him before moving out of his grasp. "I-I have to go."

"But Lex" He grabbed her hand and made her face him. "I'm in love with you, please…"

She shook her head "I just don't think that it is enough anymore."

Lexie quickly gathered her clothes together and shut herself in the bathroom. She dressed at warp speed and made a dash for the front door. Mark caught up with her though and took her in her arms before kissing her forcefully and passionately. When he finally pulled away he rested his forehead against hers. "I love you Lexie Grey" he whispered.

She gently wiped away the tear that was rolling down his cheek with her thumb. "And I love you Mark Sloan" She pressed a chaste kiss against his lips and exited his apartment, waiting for the elevator doors to close before she wrapped her arms around herself and fell to the floor, sobbing loudly as her heart ripped apart.

Mark stood in the corridor, watching her walk away from him once again, but this time he knew there was no going back, this was the end, and that thought made his heart shatter into a thousand pieces.

_Lexie Grey was gone._

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**I know I said I wasn't doing anymore stories till I'd finished my other two but I was just so depressed writing my post-flight story that I had to write a plane-less ending. **

**One Shot. Although may come back to this story later on when my others are complete if enough people want that. Because there are ideas here…**

**Review?**


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